Profile America — Monday, November 26th. A side issue of the Civil War came to a head on this day in 1861 — resulting in the formation of the state of West Virginia. When Virginia voted to secede from the Union, delegates from pro-union counties in the western part of the state marched out of the convention and held their own gathering. Ultimately, 50 counties voted to form a separate state. The split had been brewing for decades around the issues of slavery, restriction of voting to large landowners, and unequal taxation. West Virginia formally became the 35th state in June 1863. At the time, some 400,000 people lived in the new state. Now, West Virginia is home to just over 1.8 million. Profile America is in its 16th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: American Speaker Calendar of Events Statistical Abstract of the United States 2012, t. 19

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).

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